Anyone happen to have any suggestions for places in Ohio that are suited for hiking, backpacking or camping? I am trying to find a camping/hiking experience that is a bit more than just a 10x10m allocated spot of land sandwiched between families that brought their entire living room and kitchen with them. If anyone has any tips they would be greatly appreciated. I am assuming the best spots if they exist are in south-west or south-east ohio, it would be nice to find a place where you can hike a few miles up a trail and set up a tent along the way somewhere.
http://www.miamivalleytrails.org/ still denys hotlinking of images even though its the future already YES!! We have over 3000 miles of bike path that connect lots of parks and rural ares as well as cities. Many portions of these bike paths are so deep in the woods that you could go back there and camp in the same spot for a couple days and nobody would see/know. and if they did they probably wouldnt care unless youre on someone's private property. Here's a map of al the trails in the miami valley. I cant find the one I am looking for, though. http://www.miamivalleytrails.org/Interactive-Maps.htm
ok this one is a better map. you can click on what you want to see. disregard the previous one http://www.dot.state.oh.us/divisions/transsysdev/multimodalplanning/bicycle/pages/ohiobikeways.aspx
This is my favorite path and It is perfect for freelance camping. especially near morrow and corwin. there's a bunch of canoe rental places around there.
Thank you for the help, that trail looks pretty nice! I live in Columbus so I'd have to drive down. Corwin looks like a good place to camp with that lake, is there a certain place you would suggest maybe parking at to start a good hike? I was thinking either start at Yellow Springs, or Spring Valley and then hike to Corwin, camp out and then hike back. Does this sound reasonable to you? Also, this is all bike trail?
Xenia Station. hands down. But if you start at spring valley it wont be so far. However from Yellow Springs to Corwin would be pretty far. yes these are all bike paths and they all interconnect. you should really be able to start in columbus and hike and camp all around the state if you really wanted to.
OK I FOUND IT heres a real interactive trail map of the whole state. http://www.ohiobikeways.net/gmap.htm
I see this is a pretty old thread, but in case someone else has the same question, the reality is that there is very little wilderness in Ohio. Most of the "parkland" is tightly controlled, and recently has been opened to fracking. Actually I think the only primitive camping that is allowed is in the NATIONAL Forests like Wayne NF, in SE Ohio. "Primitive Camping is allowed on NF land away from developed campgrounds and anywhere that your camping equipment and/or vehicle do not block developed trails or road right-of-ways." The Ohio STATE forests and parks do not allow primitive camping, "Camping (no fee) is permitted only in areas provided for such use". So really, Ohio sucks for outdoor recreation except for a few small areas. The Red River Gorge in the Daniel Boone NF in Kentucky is about 3 hours form Cincinnati and is the best place in the region for primitive camping.
Try the backpacking trail in Lake Hope State Park, and the Buckeye Trail... Parts of the BT go through Hocking Hills State Park and it's gorgeous!
Being from Yellow Springs I can attest to that!!! I spend my weekend all in and around the Glen. It's great! We took a school trip to Hocking Hills and I loved that too
I remember when we took a week long school trip to Glen Helen when I was in fourth grade. It was in February and some girl got frostbite on her feet I think. Why they woulld schedule that in the dead of winter I have no Idea. I think we even developed our own pictures too! I love that place though. Ive been hiking there a couple times since then.
Woodbury Wildlife Area is the Largest Wildlife Preserve in the State and has a Primitive Campground that never has any Campers except during Deer Season The Conesville Coal Lands has miles and miles of Biking Trails that opened up just a few years ago. Both are here in Coshocton Co. there's lots of wilderness here
